Retinitis pigmentosa: A progressive, incurable disease
UCI Health researcher continues to seek cure for blindness-causing condition
January 10, 2025
Dr. Henry Klassen is discovering new ways to use stem cells to repair the retina, offering new hope for people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.
(Photo credit: Steve Zylius/UC Irvine)
IN THE NEWS: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the leading cause of disability and blindness in people under 60. It is marked by the slow decay of the photoreceptors — in the shape of rods and cones — that perform the initial detection of light. There is no cure.
Nationally renowned ophthalmologist and researcher Henry Klassen, MD, PhD, who has led multiple clinical trials in search of a cure, spoke to National Geographic about why RP is so devastating.
“It’s the severity of the disease combined with the lack of treatment that makes the situation so desperate for patients.”
RP often isn’t diagnosed before a child is 10 years old, and sometimes as late as one’s 50s.
“Even if you can see quite well earlier in life, the loss of vision related to RP is so relentless that, bit by bit, all ability to see can ultimately be lost.”
Klassen is a professor professor of ophthalmology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and director of the Stem Cell & Retinal Regeneration Program at the UCI Health Gavin Herbert Eye Institute. His breakthrough research has shown that injecting progenitor retinal cells into the eye slowed progression of RP and may spark the growth of healthy cells.
He is the author or co-author of numerous peer-reviewed publications on the topics of progenitor cells, stem cells and retinal repair.
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